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I've recently aquired beginners hobby set complete with (the new to me) Foundation paints.
After collecting warhammer for 10 years I've never felt the need for a different kind of paint and it's left me wondering, what are they for and how do I use them?

I use them mainly for setting the main colour of a model, for example.
A space marine with a red shoulder pad, i use mechrite red to give me a good starting point. The foundation paints give very good coverage and usually give a solid block of colour with 1 coat, making life a little easier
Use them just like a normal paint, maybe thinned slightly more as they can be a bit thicker

Dan

I like mixing deneb stone in for highlighting where you might use white normally. Slightly warmer.

Foundation paints just have very high amounts of pigment in them, meaning you need less coats to get smooth coverage (ideally only 1). They are inappropriate for highlighting and such though, as they can be very stark unless you water them down. And if you water them down...your just left with regular GW paints.

riplikash wrote:if you water them down...your just left with regular GW paints.

Well, not entirely. With their higher pigment density, Foundation paints should always cover better for any given ratio of dilution. Now, if what you're looking for is a particular opacity, you may end up needing dilute them so much that the pigment begins to clump, leaving a mottled finish. In those cases, you would be better off using regular Citadel Color (or VGC, etc.).

Foundations were generally designed with basecoating in mind, like D.Smith mentioned, and that's where they really shine. They can be made translucent, but without additional mediums it's an uphill struggle. When you need to lay white or red down over black, though, you'll be glad you have Dheneb Stone/Astronomicon Gray or Mechrite Red, respectively. I never paint white without Foundations, unless the mini was primed that way.

They let you build up to brighter colors. Normally, building up to yellow from a black basecoat is frustrating and takes forever. With Foundation paints, you can get Iyanden Darksun (Foundation yellow) and after 1-2 coats of a brighter yellow over that, you're done.

They also taste terrible.

I was skeptical of the new paints (and washes too) but gave them a try after a GW HQ guy was at my local store and had us guys at the painting table try them out.

The paints are life savers now for me. I use them for every army I paint and have even started redoing older models already painted as it makes painting so much quicker, especially when working with reds, yellows or white.

I use them for GW and non-GW alike, they are wonderful, and I'm not the biggest GW supporter as of late...

Their higher pigmentation makes them great for covering models in fewer (1-2) coats versus many, many coats of paint, again, when working with red, yellow or white.

Try out the washes as well if you haven't, there is a reason Devlan Mud wash has been often called 'Devlan Miracle Wash'

Ok cool thanks for the advice, starting to sound like I could've done with some new kinds of paint 10 years ago might've made yellow space marines a little easier (not to mention the yellow land raider)

Foundations, washes and silver metallics are the only GW paints worth using anymore. Everything else Vallejo or Reaper do better.

And if you can, transfer all your paints into dropper bottles. They will last longer and it's easier to measure out amounts for mixing recipes and what not.

As has been said already, they're basically designed for giving a solid basecoat for painting over.

I swear by them however and use them for just about everything, probably because they go on so easily. Plus I find the slightly muted colours gives armies a nice 'gritty' feel, if you get what I mean.

Potato Sack wrote:As has been said already, they're basically designed for giving a solid basecoat for painting over.

I swear by them however and use them for just about everything, probably because they go on so easily. Plus I find the slightly muted colours gives armies a nice 'gritty' feel, if you get what I mean.

that'sone of the reasons I use them - they're slightly 'earthier' and natural.